


She Who Doesn't Kill You

by 5BlackRoses



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 2017, AU, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Assassin Pepper Potts, F/M, First Meetings, Pepperony Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 07:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11504370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5BlackRoses/pseuds/5BlackRoses
Summary: Tony sneaks off to a barely used apartment for some alone time only to find that someone else got there first.Assassin!Pepper AU Written for Day 6 of Pepperony Week 2017(title based on the expression "that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger")





	She Who Doesn't Kill You

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this, I'm not sure yet.

Tony checked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed before unlocking the door of the apartment he hadn't entered in years. He owned the entire building, but all the other units were rented out, this one holding a special place in his heart. Keeping this particular property a secret was especially important to a Tony because it was one of the only residences he owned that had no ties to Stark Industries or even the Stark family name.

Of all the things Tony had inherited, this was his favorite; more so than any of Howard's mansions. It was especially great because Obadiah Stane, Howard's business partner and Tony's mentor, didn't know about it. Most of Daniel Sousa's property and assets were distributed amongst his wife and biological children upon his death, but his small apartment building in New York had gone to someone else. Tony wasn't even sure if his Aunt Peggy knew about that particular building; Uncle Daniel hadn't lived there since before his brief stint running the Los Angeles SSR office.

On paper, Anthony Carter-Sousa owned the building, but the elderly man on the first floor served as a landlord and super; he'd been living there since before a young Daniel Sousa moved in after the war. Technically, Anthony Carter-Sousa didn't exist, but technically, Tony Stark was vacationing in Nice, so it didn't really matter.

The apartment wasn't particularly modern, though it had functional plumbing, electricity, and wifi, but Tony liked the 'blast from the past' feeling he got every time he entered and saw the furniture and wallpaper straight out of the late 1940's. That wasn't to say he visited often, he'd actually only been there twice, once since inheriting it. The other time he'd been to that apartment was on a "vacation" with Uncle Daniel during which they had some serious "man to man bonding." In other words, when he was 15 and OD'd on cocaine, Uncle Daniel brought him to the apartment to detox for a week without Howard and Maria, Edwin and Ana, Peggy, or the media finding out. Tony could only remember the last few days of the week, once the drugs were completely out of his system, but what he did remember was important if not particularly pleasant.

Tony shut and locked the door behind himself, placing his bag on the ornate wooden side table. When he turned around, he was immediately assaulted with pepper spray. Luckily for him, he was wearing sunglasses and was therefore able to reach out, trapping his assailant against the wall.

 

* * *

 

Virginia Potts sat in a mostly empty room, watching the building next door through the window and the scope of her rifle. Any second, her target would be coming back from his day job to make calls relating to his night work before his wife returned from her job. She'd been watching him for several days, learning his schedule and habits so that everything went smoothly when she finished the job.

Between 5:10 and 5:30 PM, the man would come home, and before making his first call, he would take of his jacket and loosen his tie. Just before dialing the number, apparently he didn't use the contact info feature if his phone, he would go to the kitchen and pour himself a glass of tomato juice, sitting in the living room to drink it.

Sometime between the first and second calls, the man would get up, go somewhere in the apartment that was not visible through the window, and come back with a folder of papers. The folder would be used for the next several calls, and then be returned to wherever it came from.

During the last phone call, his demeanor would change, softening considerably, Virginia knew he was calling his wife. That day, the final call ended differently than normal because his wife didn't answer. His would-be executioner knew why; the wife and the person who'd called the hit were on a plane to Belgium.

Virginia had contemplated firing before the second to last call was completed so that whoever found him would also find evidence of his illegal and despicable dealings, but decided that might create too much of a mess and drag out the investigation. The man fell to the floor, phone falling from one hand, the other knocking over the glass of tomato juice. Virginia winced as the two thick red substances saturated the very white, very clean, carpet. Pulling out her burner phone, she typed "done," and hit send before smashing the phone itself. When the two women got off the plane, one of them would receive the text on a matching burner phone which would subsequently be destroyed as well.

As she was disassembling and packing up her rifle, Virginia thought she heard something, shuffling footsteps in the landing most likely. _Something is wrong,_ she decided, pulling a can of pepper spray from her bag, _the super said that neither Mr. Sousa nor his son had been around in years._

Leaving her rifle where it was, she move silently down the hall towards the entryway, brandishing the spray can in front of her. She was using pepper spray because she hadn't brought a handgun with her, and frankly, extra dead bodies weren't worth the hassle; people tended to come looking for them. Virginia sprayed the newcomer in the face, noticing his sunglasses just before he pinned her against the wall.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
